Practical Joking: The Last Laugh
by Heart-Shaped Quill
Summary: Final story in the 'Practical Joking' series. Amu's charas plot to punish Yoru for the sinister character transformation-related pranks he has played on them. Unfortunately, the plan backfires, and leaves Amu in her own embarrassing situation!


**Summary:** Sequel to "Practical Joking" and "More Practical Joking". Set after 'More Practical Joking'. After the latest incident, Amu's charas plot to get Yoru back for the sinister chara-nari related practical jokes he has played on them. Too bad the plan backfires...and leaves Amu in her own embarrassing situation!

**Inspiration:** Well, after the first two, I just had to have one more to round it all up! And maybe it had something to do with that picture I drew of Ikuto in chara-nari with Kiseki (you can see where this is going...)

**Author's note:** Since there is going to be so much going on, I'm just going to use honorifics when I know that character uses them (for example, I know Tadase calls Amu 'Hinamori-san'), so if I get someone's use of honorifics wrong, just ignore it. And if there's OOCness, it's supposed to be there. Like I've said, this is **total randomness**.

* * *

It was midnight; all was quiet in the Hinamori household, as everyone inside was asleep soundly in their warm cosy beds. However, the only beings still awake at this time of night were Amu's three chara's, who had all gathered in one corner of the room to talk. The topic? Well...

"Ok, enough is enough! He's getting payback for what he's done to us!" Ran declared. It seems that they are talking about the one thing that's been a nuisance with his practical jokes: Yoru. The cat-like chara had been causing nothing but trouble lately, and Amu's charas agreed that it was high time that he be taught a lesson.

"Suu had to use Tadase-kun as a cleaning tool desu..." Suu said a little sadly. She was still feeling awful about that particular incident, where Yoru had convinced her that a chara-nari with Tadase would get the Royal Garden in shipshape faster. Of course, that event had ended in disaster, resulting in the Royal Garden smelling like expired seafood.

"What about me? I was unwillingly pushed into Ikuto and-

However, the pink chara, whose voice was getting increasingly louder with each word spoken, was cut off by Miki's hand over her mouth. Miki turned to face Ran and put a finger to her lips. "Shhh... could you be any louder? We don't want to wake up Amu-chan."

At that, the three charas turned to look at their owner, who was sleeping contently in her bed, muttering inaudible words every now and then. Miki managed to catch a little of her owner's speech.

"Ah, so she's dreaming of Ikuto again huh?" Miki said with a little smirk. Not that she was dreaming of a certain cat herself...

"Looks like it... but really, what are we going to do?" Ran said, quickly bringing the conversation back on topic.

Suu placed a small finger to her chin in deep thought. "Hmmm...Well, we could do the same thing back to him, but I'm not sure if that is right desu..."

Suu's idea seemed to click for Ran. Her eyes alight with anticipation, she declared, "That's it! We can force him into a chara-nari; give him a taste of his own medicine!"

"..."

"But... how are we going to catch him?"

"..."

"You know I haven't been targeted yet right?" Miki couldn't help but feel a little smug at that. Unlike her sisters, she hadn't been forced into a chara-nari with anyone yet. At this, Ran turned to glare at Miki. She was one of the lucky ones.

"Are you still gonna help though?" Ran asked.

Miki shrugged. "Why not?"

Ran motioned her sisters into a huddle. "Now, this is what we're gonna do..."

"...don't forget this..."

"...will it work?"

"...cats love fish after all desu..."

…

"...Perfect!"

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

But of course, not everything always goes according to plan.

It had begun as an ordinary day. The usual waking up to her sister's voice, having the usual breakfast, followed by stressing out on what to wear to the Guardian's meeting at the park. She normally wouldn't worry about that last part, but if a Guardian's meeting was concerned, then of course she would worry. She wanted to impress Tadase-kun of course!

But now that she and the Guardians were at the park, not once did Amu expect it to turn out like this.

"I won't forgive you for what you have done Tsukiyomi Ikuto!"

"What did I do this time? If it's something Yoru did-"

"Holy Crown!"

...

"You know, you need more attacks that actually **do** damage!"

Then again, what were the odds that Ikuto just happened to be passing by at that exact moment? Amu sighed. There was no point in trying to intervene, considering the last time this had happened. Instead, she turned away and started a conversation with Rima and Yaya, who were also ignoring the spontaneous battle and were eating the contents of the picnic basket instead. Nagihiko and Kukai, who had been passing by earlier and decided to join them, were watching the action and giving pointless commentary.

"And Ikuto dodges Tadase's attack with ease!"

"But wait! What's this?"

...

"And it looks like Ikuto's character change has just ended for unknown reasons! Does this mean that Tadase has gained the upper hand?"

"Who knows Kukai? Who knows..."

And as for the charas, they were all floating in a small group nearby, away from all the action. They had even stolen some of the food and were having their own little meeting in one of the cherry blossom trees. Even Utau's charas, who had escaped from their owner for a while, had joined them. However, Amu's charas were nowhere to be seen. Where could they be?

Meanwhile, in another more secluded area of the park, Ran grinned mischievously, while Suu was looking a bit doubtful.

"Are you sure we've got him desu?"

"Of course! Miki's trap has worked! Let's go get him and proceed with part two of the plan!"

The two charas floated towards the small box and grabbed hold of the small handles on the top of it. After making sure that the lid was locked tightly and securely, they then flew off back to the main area of the park, taking the trapped Yoru with them.

"Sorry Yoru-san, but it's for the best desu..." Suu said.

"What are you guys doing nya?"

"Just giving back what you rightfully deserve," Ran said. After Miki had disappeared to who knows where after creating the trap, Ran and Suu waited behind a bush until Yoru appeared. Just as expected, the cat-chara was attracted away from the Ikuto and Tadase battle to the fish in the box, and had entered it. However, before he could leave, the box's lid shut and locked, preventing Yoru from leaving. Now he was stuck in there, not knowing what Amu's charas were going to do to him. He had a feeling it had something to do with the jokes he had been doing on them lately that had provoked them to do this. But despite his current situation, Yoru grinned. The jokes had been worth it. And at least he had his fish.

"Let's see how you like a random chara-nari now!" Ran said, clearly remembering the time when Yoru had pushed her into a character transformation with his owner. The plan was going perfectly; now all they had to do was find a target for part two of plan 'Get Yoru back for the practical jokes'.

But then the unthinkable happened: the lock on the lid gave way, causing Yoru to slip out of the box. He didn't take notice of the two charas' reactions; as he fell, he managed to catch a fast-approaching blur of pink in his vision. Assuming it was who he thought it was, Yoru managed to call out the following words: "Amu's Heart, unlock!"

Yaya looked up to the sound of the voice she just heard. "Hey Amu-chi, isn't that Ikuto's chara falling from the sky?" she said while innocently pointing upwards. However, Amu barely had enough time to look up herself before she was swallowed up by the black light emitting from the Humpty Lock.

"Hinamori-san!"

"Amu!" The presence of the black light had distracted Ikuto and Tadase from their battle, and now they were both wondering what was going on.

"Amu-chan!" her charas said from above.

_One pointless character transformation sequence later..._

"Chara-nari! Amulet Neko!"

"Ah well, at least the plan worked desu..." Suu said, trying to make light of the situation.

"Yes, but for all the wrong reasons..." was all Ran could say in reply.

Amu on the other hand, was in complete shock. One second she had been happily chatting with her friends, the next she was standing in a completely different outfit, in a chara-nari with a chara not of her own. Instead of the clothes she had picked out this morning, she was now clad in a black crop top that showed off her midriff with a matching pair of leather pants. On her feet she wore a pair of matching boots. Her near-nonexistent fingernails had stretched out into sharp claws. Two bubblegum-pink cat ears were visible from her hair along with a matching tail and to complete the look, a cat bell collar was around her neck, as well as the Humpty Lock.

The occurrence of this surprising character transformation caused everyone's eyes to be on her. Ikuto smirked, while Tadase felt a faint blush developing. Apart from Amulet Heart, he had never seen his friend in such a revealing and tight-fitting outfit before.

"N-Nani? What happened? Yoru!" Amu managed to say, a blush spreading across her face rapidly.

Yoru laughed. "It worked nya!"

And at that moment, the other charas floated back into the area. Iru in particular, took notice to what just happened.

"That looks like fun!" Iru said with a snicker. Without another thought, the little devil-like chara broke off from the group of charas and headed towards the nearest person: Yaya.

And in the blink of an eye, Yaya became...

"Chara-nari! Demonic Baby!"

...which is pretty much the same as Dear Baby, except the tones were much more darker and, well, demonic-looking. Yaya, seemingly under the devil chara's complete control, smirked at the nearest target: Kiseki. With a grin, she pointed towards him and shouted:

"Go go! My Demonic Duckies!"

A swarm of red ducks, complete with devil horns, headed towards Kiseki. The king chara didn't notice at first, as he had been too busy helping his owner fight Ikuto. However, when he finally saw them, he unwillingly cancelled Tadase's chara-change and flew away. But escape was futile; everywhere he went, the ducks would follow.

"Don't just stand there! Help me my loyal subjects!" Kiseki demanded, but it looked like nobody was willing to help him. It was too funny watching him being chased by evil ducks.

"Looks like there's only one way out of this..." he muttered to himself as he found himself heading towards Ikuto. He couldn't believe he was going to do this, but... "Tsukiyomi Ikuto's heart, unlock!"

Ikuto on the other hand, didn't notice until it was too late.

_Yet another pointless character transformation sequence later..._

"Chara-nari! Reluctant Royal!"

"Reluctant Royal?" Ikuto said, disbelief evident in his voice. What he was currently wearing resembled something Kiseki might wear; a button-down shirt, dark blue puffy pants, little golden crown on his head, and to complete the look, a red cape with white fur trim. And let's not forget the sceptre in his hand.

The tension was broken by Tadase's laughter on the sidelines. Ikuto, without bothering to turn around, simply said, "Well, at least it's not frilly like yours, Tadase..."

That shut him up.

"And let's not forget your chara-nari with Suu." Ikuto added with a smirk.

"H-how do you know about that?" Tadase said, blushing furiously. That was the whole reason he was fighting him in the first place. He thought Ikuto had sent his chara to do his dirty work, but it didn't occur to him that Yoru would actually **tell** his owner exactly what had happened!

"How dare you insult our character transformation!" Kiseki said angrily. He obviously hates it when everyone rags on about how frilly and girly-looking the Platinum Royale transformation is. Some people forget that charas have feelings too!

Too bad Tadase didn't notice a certain angel-like chara sneak up behind him. Hands in the 'heart unlock' position, Eru skilfully said as she moved towards the oblivious blonde, "Tadase-kun's heart unlock!"

And a moment later...

"Chara-nari! Angelic Guardian!"

...was born.

"Again?" Tadase looked down at his outfit. Much to his disappointment, he was once again in a dress. This one was a light shade of pink and reached down to just above his ankles, and it seemed to shimmer and shine as the sunlight hit it. A small pair of angel wings was on his back, and to top it off, he even had a halo. Tadase avoided Amu's eyes; this was almost as bad as the Suu chara-nari.

Ah well, at least it wasn't frilly for once.

"'Angelic Guardian'? That's a laugh!" Ikuto said with a little snigger.

"Shut up!"

Ikuto held up the sceptre lazily, a bored expression on his face. "So... what am I supposed to do with this, 'Holy Crown' you with it or something?"

Meanwhile with the others, it seemed that Ikuto and Tadase weren't the only ones trying out their new chara-nari's. Amu was wondering what her attack was, along with where the hell her charas were at a time like this. And how embarrassing, walking around with such a revealing outfit such as this one in front of Tadase-kun and Ikuto! She just wanted to crawl into a hole and die!

But she had to admit, it was kind of fun transforming with a chara other than her own. But why so unexpectedly?

Amu looked to Yaya, who had collapsed into a deep sleep on the grass shortly after Iru ceased her chara-nari with her. It seemed that that one transformation had drained all the energy out of the girl.

"Damnit Yoru..." Amu muttered to herself.

"Hey! It wasn't my fault! Blame your charas nya!" Yoru said in reply.

"Chara-nari! Sport Star!" Daichi was feeling full of energy, so he transformed with Rima.

"Ironic, since I suck at sports..." Rima said unemotionally. She didn't pay much attention to her current outfit; what was the point? (sorry, use your imaginations for this one)

"C'mon Rima! It's not so bad!" Kusukusu said, trying to make light of the situation. Rima would've felt better, that is until she heard someone else's laughter. In fact, it was coming from Nagihiko.

"Why are you laughing! This isn't comedy!" Rima demanded.

"But like you said, it's ironic." Nagi said with a little grin.

Meanwhile, with Ran and Suu...

"Well, I guess it doesn't seem so bad after all." Ran said with a shrug. And looking down at all the commotion below, the maid-like chara floating next to her could only nod in agreement.

"It looks like fun this time desu! Suu might try it again!" Suu said.

And with that, Ran flew towards Kukai. A moment later, he became...

"Chara-nari! Heartful Cheerleader!"

"'Heartful Cheerleader'? I never asked for this!" Kukai said, clearly remembering the cute-guy incident again. In a flash of pink sparkles, he was now wearing what looked to be a pink-and-white pleated dress, complete with tennis sneakers and a set of pink pom-poms. Unfortunately for him, the dress just happened to have heart designs peppered all over it, and he even had an assortment of heart clips in his hair.

And then Utau showed up for her charas, and saw the entire ruckus unfolding in front of her.

"What the? Kukai, what are you wearing?"

And then Suu knew who she could transform with.

"Utau-chan's heart, unlock!"

"Chara-nari! Clover Charm!"

Utau looked down at her new outfit, which was much like Seraphic Charm's dress, except it was a light shade of green, and it had a neat pattern of clovers running along the hem. Her hair was held up in pigtails by two green bows, and a maid's headdress was nestled comfortably on her head. An apron covered the front of the dress. And to complete the look, she was holding what looked like a serving tray.

"What's this?"

"A chara-nari with me, Suu desu!" Suu said cheerfully.

"What about me?" Nagihiko said, now feeling a bit left out amongst the craziness happening all around him.

That is, until Kusukusu appeared beside him, ready for a character transformation of her own.

And that's what happened.

"Chara-nari! Comedic Fail!"

"Bala-balance!" However, Nagihiko ended up tripping on his baggy clown pants, causing him to over balance and fall over. Rima couldn't help but laugh at that.

And thus, all went wild.

"Ooh, kitten's got claws."

"Shut up Ikuto, otherwise I'll attack you again!"

"Me-ow!" Ikuto taunted.

"Leave Hinamori-san alone!" Tadase said. Without warning, a white line of sparkling energy materialized and arched in one of Tadase's hands to form a bow, while a glowing white arrow appeared in the other. As if on autopilot, he set the arrow in the bow, held it up in an overdramatic fashion, and let the arrow fly in an explosion of sparkles, proclaiming before he fired, "Angelic... Arrows!"

Ikuto quickly sidestepped out of the way of the oncoming arrow, and swiped another one away with his sceptre. "I would attack back Tadase, but your stubborn chara won't tell me what our attack is!"

"I can't believe I even did this in the first place!" Kiseki said before cancelling the character transformation with Ikuto. "Transforming with the enemy...it's uncalled for!"

"That was a bit dramatic wasn't it Eru?"

"The hero always has to be dramatic!" the angel-like chara said in reply.

"He has better attacks with Eru than she did with me..."

"Weee! This is fun!" Kusukusu said with a chuckle.

"Ahhh!" Nagihiko said as he performed another failure at comedy.

"Watch where you're throwing that tray Utau!"

"Cookie Cutter!" Utau said as she flung the razor-sharp serving dish through the air, accidentally cutting through a branch off a tree.

"It's not supposed to be used like that desu!"

"C'mon Yaya! Get up! You can do it!" However, despite Kukai's over-the-top encouragement and cheer routines, Yaya continued to sleep. She was drained from her short transformation with Iru after all.

The charas that were no longer participating were floating nearby; close to the action, but not too close. Iru, Pepe, Kiseki and Miki were there, Miki having come back from whatever she had been doing earlier. However, they didn't seem to notice Ran and Suu remerge from their chara-nari chaos. And when Ran saw her artistic sister, she knew what she could do.

"Oh, Suu doesn't like this desu..." Suu said when she saw the sneaky grin on Ran's face as she floated up behind Miki.

"What do you think of all this Pepe?" Miki asked as she pulled out her notebook, ready to sketch the entire scene in front of her. She had to admit, she didn't mind the festivities one bit. They were actually quite funny from what she heard. She only wished she had been here to see Kiseki's transformation with Ikuto, which he now refused to talk about. But it was all worth it; because of her departure after making the trap, her sisters would never know that she had tampered with the box so Yoru could escape.

However, before the baby-like chara could answer, Miki was suddenly pushed in the back by Ran, causing her to fall forward. The charas watched with curiosity as Miki flew through the air, towards an unsuspecting Ikuto. It was only then that Miki saw her opportunity.

"Ikuto's heart, unlock!"

"Not again..." Ikuto managed to mutter just as he was swallowed up by the blue light.

_One- you guessed it!- character transformation sequence later…_

"Chara-Nari! Ikuto Spade!"

Now it was everyone's turn to look at Ikuto, who was now wearing Amulet Spade's entire attire; from the beret with the spade clip right down to the striped socks. Amu's eyes widened at the sight, and an awkward silence filled the air.

"I-Ikuto?" Amu said, clearly remembering the Amulet Heart event again. She stifled the urge to laugh; this was almost as funny as last time.

"'Ikuto Spade'? Aren't you supposed to be the creative chara Miki?" Ikuto said, handling the situation with his famous smirk. At least he wasn't wearing a short skirt this time around. But before he could say or do anything else, he saw Yoru cancel Amu's chara-nari with him. His eyes narrowed at the sight of his chara, which caused everyone else to stare at the little cat as well.

"Yoru! You're behind all this aren't you!"

Yoru on the other hand, just grinned and floated away before anyone could strangle him.

"Come back here!" Ikuto said, strangely channelling Miki's inner woman. Suddenly, a giant paintbrush, much like Amulet Spade's, appeared in his hands. He held it up in one hand, and took aim. "Giant Paintbrush Attack!"

Without knowing it, Ikuto threw the object like a javelin at his chara. Too bad he missed; majorly. The paintbrush went soaring through the air, and landed harmlessly a few metres away.

"What the hell Miki?"

"Creative attack huh?" Miki said coolly and perhaps a little sheepishly as well. But inside she was grinning; at last she had gotten the chance to annoy someone of her own with a surprise chara-nari, and it was even funnier that she transformed with Ikuto.

"Spiral Heart!"

"White Decoration!"

"Tightrope Dancer!"

"Nightmare Lorelei!"

But despite being back in their proper character transformations, everyone's attacks managed to miss the escaping cat-chara. It wasn't long before Yoru became nothing but a small dot in the distance; one that wasn't worth aiming for.

Everyone that was in a character transformation quickly dropped them, and the talking immediately started.

"So it was him that was behind this all along!"

"I hold no responsibility for my chara's actions..."

"I guess so. But you've got to admit, it was fun while it lasted."

"What a crazy afternoon..."

"I agree..."

"Meeting adjourned!"

Once he was sure he had gotten away, Yoru floated down to a nearby tree, still laughing at the craziness that he had caused. His practical joking was definitely a success. Who knew it would become this popular? And it was all because of an impromptu chance to transform with Amu. The possibilities that had resulted when everyone else had transformed with the others had been the best part of it all. But he couldn't help but wonder, what would happen if one could chara-nari with two charas?

But alas, that would have to wait for another day. Now, he needed a catnap.

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

Ran, on the other hand, couldn't resist doing it one more time...

_One character transformation sequence later..._

"Victory Cheer! Wooooo!" Kukai said, while waving his pom-poms around crazily. This however, caused everyone's eyes to be focused on him, eyebrows raised.

"What?"

* * *

Well, there you have it! The last of the 'Practical Joking' series ends with a few laughs and a few random character transformations. I must admit, this turned out pretty funny if I say so myself. In fact, this is probably the most random thing I've ever written. Ah well, I guess that's what happens when you're in a writing mood at midnight on a Saturday night...

But just because this series is finished doesn't mean I **might** not type up more random ones. I don't know yet. But thank you for reading them, and don't forget to leave a review on your way out please! And the usual applies: if you want to see the pictures involved (namely Ikuto's chara-nari with Kiseki), check them out on my profile (or better yet, my Deviantart page. Information is on my profile)


End file.
